Eucalyptus scopulorum facts for kids

Eucalyptus scopulorum is a type of small tree. It grows only in a small part of northern New South Wales, Australia. This tree has rough bark, like iron, on its trunk and branches. Its leaves are shaped like spears. It has white flowers that grow in groups of seven, and its fruit looks like a small barrel or cone.

What Does It Look Like?

Eucalyptus scopulorum is usually a small tree. It grows up to about 8 metres (26 feet) tall. It has a special woody swelling at its base called a lignotuber. This helps the tree regrow if it gets damaged, for example, by fire.

The bark on its trunk and branches is soft and corky. It is a pale grey colour. Young plants and new shoots that grow from the base (called coppice regrowth) have stems that are somewhat square. Their leaves are a dull grey-green and shaped like an egg. These young leaves are about 35 to 110 millimetres long and 25 to 50 millimetres wide.

The adult leaves are the same dull green on both sides. They are shaped like a spear, about 60 to 110 millimetres long and 15 to 38 millimetres wide. They narrow down to a stalk, called a petiole, which is 8 to 25 millimetres long.

The flower buds grow in groups of seven. They are found at the ends of the branches on a stalk called a peduncle, which is 7 to 15 millimetres long. Each individual bud has its own small stalk, called a pedicel, about 6 to 9 millimetres long.

When the buds are ready to open, they are oval or diamond-shaped. They are about 7 to 9 millimetres long and 4 millimetres wide. Each bud has a cone-shaped cap called an operculum. This cap protects the flower inside.

This eucalyptus tree has white flowers. They have been seen blooming in October. After the flowers, the tree produces woody fruit. The fruit is shaped like a barrel or a cone. It is about 6 to 9 millimetres long and 5 to 7 millimetres wide. The parts that open to release the seeds are below the rim of the fruit.

How It Got Its Name

The tree Eucalyptus scopulorum was first officially described in 1997. A botanist named Ken Hill wrote about it in a science journal called Telopea. He had collected samples of the tree in the Gibraltar Range State Forest in 1996.

The second part of its scientific name, scopulorum, comes from a Latin word. The Latin word scopulus means "a cliff". This name was chosen because this tree usually grows on cliffs.

Where Does It Grow?

This special eucalyptus tree grows in rocky cracks on steep cliffs. It is only found in a few places. All these places are within the Gibraltar Range area of New South Wales.